Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“Perhaps I should have seen it,” R’jaal says, thoughtful. “I’rec has always known what he wants. He would let nothing stand in his way. Perhaps he grew tired of waiting for T’ia and influenced his khui into realizing you were the perfect mate for him.”
Everything he says is wildly wrong, but it’s sweet of him to think that. I don’t point out that I’rec still wants Tia. That I don’t know where I stand in all of this. It’s awkward. I want to be mad at I’rec, but at the same time, I want to crawl into his arms and kiss the hell out of him, to convince him that I’m the right mate for him, not Tia.
But he’s loved Tia for years. And like R’jaal says, I’rec has always known what he wants.
Knowing that just makes me feel worse. Because it’s pretty obvious that I’m not what I’rec wants. Not even a little bit.
I linger out on the shore with R’jaal, talking about nothing and everything. We steer away from resonance and talk of fishing, of all things. Of a large sturgeon he caught the other day, and when he cut open the belly, inside was a strip of leather with shell beads on it that must have come from our shore. It’s nice to talk about absolutely nothing instead of myself and I’rec, and I spend far longer than I should with him.
My khui grows more insistent over time, until I’m twitchy and my skin hurts. I know it’s trying to drive me back towards I’rec, but I think of his angry response earlier and it makes me linger on the beach, listening to R’jaal’s fishing stories. He hasn’t asked about Tia, or I’rec, or what we plan to do. I suppose that’s a good thing, because I don’t have an answer for him. I don’t know what’s going to happen between myself and I’rec, or I’rec and Tia.
Just that tomorrow is probably going to be pretty ugly, and worse if we don’t stop resonating soon. Maybe tonight will be the trick. I rub my purring chest, my skin itchy and hot. I should be annoyed that I’m going to have to suck it up and turn around and fuck I’rec while he’s moping over Tia, but right now I’m so damn needy that I don’t even care. I just want this itching ache inside me to be satisfied.
“You should go find him,” R’jaal says in a quiet voice, distracting me.
Hmm? I glance up at him, pulled out of my thoughts.
He dips his chin, indicating my chest. Sure enough, I’m no longer rubbing the valley between my breasts where my khui is purring, but squeezing one of my tits instead. Oops. Blushing, I drop my hand and pretend to straighten my leather skirt. “Right. Right.”
“All will be well,” he tells me, his voice gentle. “Resonance always knows. It is never wrong.”
“You know, you say that, but resonance has been wrong before. Look at Raahosh’s parents. They hated each other. Don’t tell me resonance had an excellent plan for that, because I don’t believe it.”
R’jaal looks unconvinced. He shakes his head at me, then turns back to the rolling waves. “Perhaps they cared for each other at one point. Maybe resonance was not totally wrong, but they poisoned it somehow. I see nothing but happy couples here on the beach, and I think resonance is right. It knows who belongs to who. It brings them happiness. And if I have not resonated, perhaps it is because it has not found my right mate yet.” He smiles faintly at the horizon. “It always knows. I must trust in that.”
Says the alien man who doesn’t have to go fuck someone that’s pining for someone else. I scowl at his back. “You keep telling yourself that, buddy. I’m leaving.” I pause, because despite his words, it’s been easier to talk to him about this than I thought. I expected anger. Yelling. At worst, sobbing. But R’jaal has been calm about it, even giving me a pep talk. “You’re a good friend, you know that? Tia’s going to be a lucky girl.”
He turns to me and gives me a faint smile. “My thanks.”
I give the valley between my breasts another little rub, then head towards camp and my hut. Might as well get this over with. I’m tight and clenched with anxiety and a hint of resentment as I approach my hut. There’s a plume of smoke coming from the smoke-hole, which tells me I’rec is inside and waiting for me. Do I tell him that I overheard his complaining that he resonated to me and not Tia? Or do I choke it all down and just jump on his cock to get things over with?
After a quick inward debate, I decide to play it cool. Even if we argue, we still have to fuck. We can squabble over who ends up with who later, once my khui has calmed down. With that decided, I take a deep breath, relax my shoulders, and then pull back the privacy screen over my hut and step inside.